Remembering Miho Nakayama, a great female singer who once again shines brightly… Mayo Okamoto, an “unexpected close friend,” talks about her “unadorned true face.

It will soon be a year since that day when all of Japan was enveloped in grief.’ On December 6, 2012, actor and singer Miho Nakayama passed away at her home in Tokyo. The tragedy occurred just before she was to leave for a concert scheduled to be held in Osaka. She died too soon at the age of 54.

For the first part, click here [ Miho Nakayama (age 54) – Risa Tachibana and Eriko Kitagawa talk about their “wonderful memories”].

Performing her own songs at a karaoke bar

As a singer, Ms. Nakayama left behind a number of great songs. Singer-songwriter Mayo Okamoto (51), who wrote the lyrics to “Mirai e no Present,” released in 1996, recalls a “gorgeous session between the two of them.

She said, “I met Miho-san for the first time at a meeting to offer ‘Mirai e no Present. It was two or three years later that we met again. We happened to run into each other at a sushi restaurant in Los Angeles, where I was visiting for a business launch. We were seated next to each other and exchanged contact information.

Miho invited me to her home once when she was living in Paris. Miho-san cooked for us and we had drinks together – and we had a lot of fun. She had a piano in her house, and a tipsy Miho asked me to play the piano for her. I still remember the moment when she sipped wine and hummed “Mirai e no Presents” to my accompaniment. I still don’t want to believe that she passed away, and I still feel as if Miho is still here somewhere.

Ms. Nakayama also had an unexpected “best friend. Jai (53) of the comedy trio “Instant Johnson” was such a close friend that he said, “We used to see each other at least once a week. They met around 2004.

I was invited by a friend to a yakiniku restaurant in Yotsuya, and Miho was there. My friend had invited Miho to join us without telling me. After eating the yakiniku, we moved to a karaoke bar, but my friend left without Miho, who was drunk. I was worried about letting her go home alone, so I walked her home that day. Then the next day, my friend contacted me saying, ‘Miho wants to know your contact information,’ and the three of us started playing together often.

Miho is usually taciturn, but when she drinks, she becomes talkative, and when she gets drunk, she bites my arm (laughs). When we were drinking at a karaoke bar, I would ask her to sing her favorite song and she would gladly do so. He was a very fun person to drink with.
I still can’t accept that he passed away, and there is a feeling of ‘what the hell are you doing? But I’m old enough to go there soon, so I hope I can see him again.

The Shining Star, who captivated the whole of Japan, continues to fascinate many people.

From the December 12, 2025 issue of FRIDAY